Welcome to the Milky Way
by simplemusings12
Summary: Isabelle Sheppard's mother was murdered almost two years ago and she was sent to live with the father she had never met, in a galaxy she didn't know existed. Now she and her father are back on Earth with the rest of the Atlantis expedition. Galaxies, relationships, & enemies may change, but Izzy's relationship with her father remains constant. *Set after Season 5
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Welcome, readers! If you haven't read "Better With You" or "Holding On and Letting Go"… no worries. You'll catch on. Basically all you need to know is that John has a 15 year-old daughter named Izzy.**

 **The other OC in the story is Landon, who was Izzy's boyfriend before he left Atlantis to go to the SGC.**

 **Jason is Sergeant Markham, who only makes two or three appearances in season one. They killed him off at some point but he stays alive in this story. He's Landon's best friend and a surrogate older brother to Izzy.**

 **This new series takes place after Atlantis finds a new home on Earth (after season 5 ended!).**

 **And this is for especially LoveStoryFanatic… there will be Sheyla.**

 **This first chapter is more of an introduction... setting the stage for later chapter. Chapter 2 is going to jump a few months ahead.**

 **Mega thanks to my beta izzysheppard for being an endless source of encouragement, pestering, and awesome advice! And all apologies that you didn't read this in advance… I got really excited and posted. I didn't think you would mind.**

 **Without further adieu… Welcome to the Milky Way.**

* * *

Chapter 1 – Settling In

"Are you sure that's what you want to do?" John asked.

"Positive." Izzy replied.

"I would rethink that move."

"I would rethink your life." Izzy teased. "Your turn."

John moved his knight. Izzy grinned. He fell into her trap.

Izzy knew what move she was going to take immediately.

"Checkmate." She said, grinning widely.

John scratched his head and examined the board for a few seconds before tipping over his king. His daughter had won… again.

"Best five of seven?" She asked.

"And have you humiliate me again? Pass." John said.

"You know, for a MENSA inductee, you'd think you'd be able to beat your own daughter at a simple game of chess."

"Alright smart-ass, time for bed. You have a big day tomorrow." John said.

"Orientation at the school I'll be starting at in the fall. Woo freaking hoo." Izzy groaned.

"Oh, not just orientation, but testing to see what classes you'll be put in." John reminded her.

"Can't wait." Izzy groaned.

Izzy slid under the covers in her quarters on Atlantis. They were searching for a house in San Francisco. After researching the local public schools, he knew which district he wanted to live in. Now all they had to do was find a house. They were going to tour one after orientation tomorrow morning.

"You'll be fine." John said, pulling the covers up to her shoulders. "See you in the morning, kiddo."

Izzy mumbled something in return and John smirked. This was the most relaxed and happy he had ever seen her. Being back on Earth had done her wonders, even though they had only been back for two weeks.

He left her room and glanced at his watch. It was nearly 10:30pm. He contemplated trying to get more paperwork done but decided to go to bed himself in the end. Izzy wasn't the only one going to orientation in the morning.

* * *

It was a bit of a pain getting onto the shore from Atlantis. Rodney was working on getting a transporter up and running in the new compound just off the San Francisco coast line, but it was a slow process. Wouldn't want to go beaming out a chunk of someone's body, after all.

The offshore compound was a large warehouse-turned-training facility that the government bought, knowing that it would be needed if Atlantis was going to remain in the Pacific.

But until the transporter was completed, they had to hitch a ride on a boat, followed by picking up John's car from a parking garage specifically for members of the SGC and Atlantis.

"It'll be nice when Rodney gets the transporter up and running." Izzy said. "I'm already tired of catching a ride on a boat."

"You and me both." John said, turning the key to start the engine.

The school was bigger than either anticipated, and Izzy was a little intimidated by the size. John put his hand on the small of her back and walked with her to the front office to meet with the school's principal.

If they could get past the secretary.

She wasn't a kind looking woman, Izzy decided. Her pointy nose seemed even more pronounced under the glasses that sat on the middle of her crooked nose. Her skin was pale, almost porcelain like. Her black hair was pulled back into a neat bun at the nape of her neck. She was unhappy about whatever she was looking at on her computer because her lips were pursed and eyebrows taught in concentration.

"Hi," John said, approaching the desk. "We have a meeting with Principal Sanders at nine."

Said secretary looked up from where she was bent over her computer and examined both John and Izzy over the top of her glasses. She gave an appreciative smile when she looked at John. Izzy noticed that her eyes slid to John's left hand. Her appreciative smile grew even larger when she realized he wasn't wearing a wedding ring.

Izzy rolled her eyes.

"Name?" The secretary asked, almost too sweetly. Izzy highly doubted that she was a nice person.

"Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard, and my daughter Isabelle." He said, setting his hand on Izzy's shoulder.

The secretary smiled again. "I'm Nancy Matherne, I'm Principal Sander's administrative assistant." She extended her hand for a shake.

"Nice to meet you." John said, glancing at their hands uncomfortably. She held the handshake for a few seconds too long.

"He'll be with you in just a moment." She said after paging him. "Feel free to wait over there." She gestured to a row of chairs along the opposite wall.

John sat next to Izzy.

"She's totally in to you." Izzy whispered.

"Her?" John asked.

"Oh yeah. She immediately looked at your left hand to see if you were married."

Izzy glanced up to see if Ms. Matherne noticed they were talking about her. She seemed wrapped up in whatever she was working on so they continued.

"Well besides the obvious," John said, "she has the same name as my ex-wife."

"Fair point." Izzy agreed.

The principal's office door opened and he stepped out. Unlike his secretary, he looked like a kind man. He looked to be in his early-forties and had salt-and-pepper hair, standing at approximately the same height as John.

"Ben Sanders, I'm the Head Administrator." He said, extending his hand.

"Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard." John said, shaking his hand. "This is my daughter Isabelle."

Principal Sanders shook Izzy's hand. "It's great to have both of you. Why don't we meet in my office."

The rest of the orientation went without a hitch. Izzy's testing went spectacularly as John had expected. She would be enrolled in tenth grade and was placed in pre-calculus, AP English, AP history, and AP biology. Izzy was nervous about the tough schedule, but John knew that she would pass those classes in flying colors.

They grabbed lunch at a Chick-Fil-A before driving to the house they were going to tour. Izzy was excited to be able to set roots with her father on the mainland. The commute would be annoying for John, but he would get used to it, even if he did have a tiny ache in his heart after leaving the Pegasus Galaxy.

It didn't take long for them to decide to buy the house. With three bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, there was more than enough room for the both of them. The previous owners had done a good job of taking care of it, and it was a reasonable distance between Izzy's school and the training facility that would eventually house the transporter that would take them back-and-forth from the mainland to Atlantis.

John put an offer on the house and completed the mortgage application with the loan officer two days later. They had to wait a few weeks before they could move which was okay with John because he had mounds of paperwork to complete before then.

The first stack of paperwork was the formal request to retain some of the members of the expedition before they were reassigned – namely Teyla and Ronon, who had to get paperwork to make them US Citizens and fake documents giving them some sort of history on Earth, even though they had only been on Earth for 23 days.

The second stack were the people that would be transferred to Atlantis.

Dr. Daniel Jackson was being transferred next week. He would become the lead researcher in Ancient language and culture, while Rodney would retain his head position of the science and technology departments.

John gave it about a week before one of them killed the other.

The final stack were his and Izzy's papers. Her birth certificate, social security card, and school ID sat at the top. The newspaper with circled housing ads was on the bottom. His documents were somewhere in the middle.

He glanced between the stacks and tried to decide which he wanted to attempt first. None of them were appealing, and he almost wished that a Wraith attack would intervene to delay completing the paperwork before remembering they were in the wrong galaxy for that. Sighing, he picked up the first stack.

* * *

John stood in front of the bathroom mirror in his quarters. He finished buttoning the top button of his black shirt. He couldn't remember the last time he was simultaneously so nervous and excited. He felt like a teenager with a crush on a girl all over again. Being on Earth and not being distracted by the looming threat the Wraith & Replicators presented made him realize how strong his feelings were… so strong, he could no longer ignore and suppress them like he had been doing for so long.

He heard a light knock on the door.

"It's open." He called, letting Izzy know that it was okay to come in.

Izzy slid her hand over the door panel and grinned.

"I was hoping you would pick that shirt." She said.

"Do I look okay?" John asked, holding his arms out and spinning in a circle.

"My gosh you're like a teenager." Izzy giggled.

John sighed. "So… that's a yes then."

"Yes, you look great." She said, reaching up to smooth out his collar.

John watched as the emotions played out on Izzy's face like an open book. She was happy one moment and lost in thought the next. He had an inkling of what she was thinking about.

"Thinking about your mom?" He asked softly.

Izzy hesitated briefly but nodded. "I know it's been almost two years since she died, but I still think about the what-ifs… what if she had told you about me… what if she didn't die… what if I didn't sneak out that night…"

Izzy ran a frustrated hand through her hair. John could tell she wasn't done yet, so he waited.

"I love Teyla, you know I do. And I love you with Teyla. It just makes me think about my mom, is all." She admitted.

John reached out and squeezed her shoulder. "Isabelle, you're what's most important to me. If it's too soon for me to date Teyla, tell me and we don't have to see each other. She knows that you come first."

Her father didn't use her full name often, but when he did it was because he was being completely serious.

"No, it's not that… it's… it's nothing. Just a lot of emotions still." She said, giving him a reassuring smile.

John studied her face and nodded. "Okay." He said, bending down to kiss her forehead and rub her back briefly.

"If there's anything you want to ask me about or talk about along the way, promise me you will." John implored.

"Pinky swear." Izzy said, extending her pinky away from her fist. John grinned and looped his pinky around hers. They didn't make a habit of keeping secrets from each other and they weren't going to start now.

"I have something for you." He said, moving towards his quarters.

Izzy followed, furrowing her eyebrows.

"I was going to wait until your birthday next month but bought it when I was out today." John said, handing her a square box with a ribbon tied around it.

Izzy took it from him and opened it, a new cell phone inside. Izzy grinned.

"Getting a cell phone hadn't even crossed my mind." Izzy said.

John reached inside his pocket and pulled out his own phone.

"My number is already programmed in there, as well as a couple others you might need." John said. "Since you're watching Torren tonight I thought it would be good for you to have this in case you need to get a hold of us."

Izzy hugged John, gripping the back of his shirt. "Thanks, Dad."

"You're welcome." He pulled away and ruffled her hair.

"Is it time yet?" She asked.

John glanced at his watch. "Sure is." He said. "Coming?"

"Yep, I'm ready." Izzy said. "But first, I have something for you, too."

Izzy disappeared into her room and reappeared with a single red rose. John couldn't help but chuckle. He knew what was coming.

"You're supposed to get the lady something. Especially since it's your first real date." Izzy said, extending the rose towards John.

"You're probably right." John smirked, accepting the rose from Izzy.

They walked down the hall to Teyla's quarters and knocked quietly in case Torren was sleeping. Izzy smirked at how John was acting. He was clearly nervous but excited as well. Her father dating someone had brought feelings to the surface that she couldn't exactly pinpoint, but she pushed them aside to deal with later.

The door slid open and Teyla looked as beautiful as John or Izzy had ever seen her. Izzy had gone shopping with her earlier in the day and had helped her pick out a classy black dress that was flattering but not inappropriate.

Izzy didn't miss the flush that rose in John's cheeks. Her black dress matched his black dress shirt and dark gray jeans perfectly. In her opinion, they were flawless.

John leaned in and whispered something in Teyla's ear that Izzy couldn't hear and kissed her on the cheek. Even though Izzy didn't know what John said, she could tell that it meant a lot to Teyla. It was the first time that Izzy had seen Teyla blush. He extended the single rose towards her and she blushed even more fiercely, disappearing into her quarters to put the rose in a skinny vase of water.

They said goodbye to Izzy and left. Torren was already asleep for the night and would most likely sleep for the remainder of it. She opened the book that she brought but had trouble concentrating, her mind wandering to how their date was going.

She eventually fell asleep sprawled out on Teyla's couch. It was well past midnight before they returned.

She didn't have to ask how it went. They were both over the moon happy.

"Well?" She asked. John and Teyla glanced at each other and John smirked.

"We had a great time." John said, peeking in on Torren who was still sleeping before pulling his only child off the couch.

"Well you might've had a great time, but I know how insufferable you can be especially after a few hours alone." Izzy teased. "Teyla might not agree."

John flicked the back of her ear and ruffled her hair. Izzy innocently grinned at her father.

Teyla laughed at their antics. "We had a wonderful evening."

Izzy grinned and gave Teyla a hug.

"Good." Izzy said.

"And Torren? Did he stay asleep?" Teyla asked.

"Yeah. Perfect little baby." She said. "Well, not so little anymore but you know what I mean."

"Yes I can't believe how fast the time has gone." Teyla reminisced. "Seems like just yesterday I found out I was pregnant."

John and Teyla shared a look that Izzy couldn't quite interpret. Something about parenting, she supposed. She didn't give it another thought. Maybe one day she would understand what the look meant that they just shared, but she didn't think she would until after she became a parent someday.

They said good night and John and Izzy left to return to their quarters for the remainder of the evening.

Izzy slid under the covers and let herself dream. Maybe one day her father would find love again. Maybe that person would be Teyla. Maybe their family would grow.

Admittedly, she was a little jealous. Selfishly, she didn't really want to share time with her father because she already didn't see him often with his crazy schedule. But, having her father fall in love meant that there would be more people to love her.

And she was okay with that.

* * *

 **The third part is here! And it's all because of you readers. I can't even begin to tell you how grateful I am for each one of you that expressed a desire to read more of John & Izzy's adventures. You all are the BEST!**

 **Hope you all are happy with the first chapter! It was more of an introductory chapter as the next chapter is going to jump a few months into the future. Brace yourselves, it's going to be awesome.**

 **And of course, let me know what you think!**


	2. Finding a New Normal

Chapter 2 – Finding a New Normal

"Izzy, I'm home." John called, hanging his keys on the hook next to the garage door.

"How was – " John paused upon entering the kitchen, a smirk playing at the corner of his lips. He stood in the doorway and watched his daughter for a moment. She was bobbing her head to whatever song was streaming through her headphones and scribbling away at a particularly difficult-looking math equation.

John set down his bag quietly and tiptoed behind her, laughing when she nearly fell off the chair when he tickled her sides.

"Dad." Izzy panted, gripping at her chest and catching her breath. "It's a good thing I just peed otherwise I would have wet my pants."

John chuckled. "It's your fault for being so focused on pre-calc and jamming out to…" John glanced over her shoulder at the iPod screen. "'My Love' by Justin Timberlake."

Izzy slowly pulled the headphones out of her ears. "I can't figure out this equation. I'm supposed to find the domain and range for f(x) = 4 – x2."

John pulled out the chair next to her and led her through solving the equation. He was patient in explaining it to her, even after she tossed her pencil in frustration, muttering something about quitting school and becoming a traveling gypsy instead.

After twenty minutes of explaining, re-explaining, and having her repeat the process back to him, she figured it out.

"See? Not that bad." John said, rubbing her shoulders briefly before standing to make some dinner.

"I'll trade with you." Izzy groaned.

"You make dinner and I do your homework? I don't think I can eat another bite of mac-n-cheese." John teased. It wasn't a secret that Izzy didn't know her way around a kitchen, and though John wasn't much better, he could at least make something other than boxed macaroni and cheese.

"Fine." Izzy sulked.

John opened the fridge and pulled out the chicken he marinated the night before.

"You could come peel a couple potatoes though." John suggested.

"Mashed, roasted, or baked?" She asked.

"Mashed."

Izzy grabbed three potatoes from the bag on the floor of their pantry.

"How was your day?" Izzy asked.

John thought about what he was going to say. He wouldn't lie to Izzy, but he didn't want to tell her the particulars of a difficult mission either.

They had a tough mission – more difficult than he was willing to admit. It was supposed to be a routine 'establish relationships and trade if they have anything to offer' but quickly escalated into an intervention.

One of the villagers, a teenage girl, was found beaten by one of the village men because she didn't bow her head as he walked by. It was a heavily patriarchal society and one of the cultural laws was that the women bowed their heads to men as they passed to show respect.

The punishment for not bowing? Public humiliation and getting beaten, such as the case of this girl.

She didn't look to be much older than Izzy, and all John really wanted to do was leave the planet, go home, and give his daughter a hug. The others had understood how he was feeling, and even looked the other way when John lost his temper at the village leader.

Needless to say, they didn't establish trade relations with that planet. And if a few of the village leaders were a little banged up at the end of the day it was left off the mission reports.

Izzy took notice of the faraway look in his eyes. "That good, huh?"

John's mind snapped back to reality and he bumped Izzy's arm against his.

"Difficult mission, but pretty normal overall." He said.

"Pretty terrible that your definition of a 'normal day' involves a difficult mission." Izzy grimaced. "Sometimes I wish your job was…. less exciting."

"I know." John consoled softly.

"How was your day?" He asked, purposefully directing the conversation away from how his day went.

"Actually normal, not your definition of normal." Izzy said.

John glanced over at her, watching her peel the potatoes briefly.

"What happened to your hand?" He asked. Her knuckles were swollen and red, and if he knew any better it looked an awful lot like someone's hand would after landing a good punch.

Izzy laughed nervously. "About that…" She wiped her hands on her pants and pulled a yellow piece of paper out of her backpack.

She wordlessly handed the paper to John and absent-mindedly rubbed her arm.

John started reading the contents of the paper out loud. "Isabelle Sheppard has received an after school detention on Monday and Tuesday because of a physical altercation that occurred in the courtyard after school. Isabelle was seen punching an eleventh grade boy in the nose after he grabbed her arm…"

He finished reading the paper to himself, his eyebrows raised in surprise.

John scratched his head. "Punched someone, huh?"

"Yeah." Izzy said quietly.

"Let me see." John instructed. Izzy extended her right fist. Two of her knuckles were a bit swollen but the pain was barely noticeable. John rubbed his thumb over her knuckles briefly before reaching into the freezer for a bag of peas, wrapping it in a towel and placing on her hand.

"All right, I want your side." John said, forgetting about the marinated chicken and potatoes for now and leaning against the counter.

Izzy hopped up on the island behind her, sitting cross-legged on the countertop.

She took a deep breath. "He was hitting on me and wouldn't go away. I tried to get him to leave but he just wouldn't stop. When he grabbed my arm, it just made me think of what happened with Billy last year and I just… reacted."

John's heart hammered in his chest. That hadn't even crossed his mind, and he mentally kicked himself because he should have seen it coming from a mile away.

Last year, one of the lieutenants on Atlantis named Billy became obsessed with Izzy. No one knew that he was a psychopath until he beat her to a bloody pulp over something she said that pissed him off.

He was in prison now, and would be for at least another year, but that didn't mean that Izzy was completely over everything that happened.

John stepped forward and pulled her into a hug. He was going to ground her but now he wasn't sure. His daughter wasn't a violent person and she knew that what she did might not have been the best option… and she was operating on pure reflex.

"Are you mad?" Izzy asked, pulling him a little closer.

John rubbed her back and pulled away, returning to the marinated chicken and partly peeled potatoes.

"No, I'm not mad." John said after a few moments of thought.

Izzy brushed her hair out of her eyes. It wasn't the answer she was expecting, but then again… she didn't know what she _was_ expecting.

"Grounded?" Izzy asked.

John turned to face her and chuckled a bit. "No, no you're not grounded. I think under the circumstances we can let this one slide."

Izzy gave him a tired grin. "And here I thought I wouldn't be leaving the house for a month."

John's grin spread across his face, reaching all the way to his eyes. He pulled away from Izzy and signed the paper, handing it to her wordlessly.

"Seriously, that's it?" Izzy asked disbelievingly.

"Would you feel better if I gave you a lecture?" John asked.

"A little, actually." Izzy shrugged.

John sighed, crossing his arms and leaning against the counter once again.

"No fighting unless there aren't any other options." John said.

Izzy nodded, glancing at her swollen knuckles.

"Alright. Good talk." Izzy said, patting John's arm as she returned the bag of peas to the freezer.

John's phone vibrated. He looked at the screen, grinned, and typed a response.

"Let me guess… Teyla's coming for dinner?" Izzy asked.

"Yep." John replied.

Izzy pulled two more potatoes from the pantry.

"When are you guys gonna tie the knot?" Izzy asked, resuming her position by the sink to finish peeling the potatoes.

John rubbed the back of his neck. He had thought about it… a lot, but they had only been officially dating for a few months. He knew that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, but wasn't it a little too soon to be making that kind of decision?

"Not sure." John said. He glanced over at Izzy. "Do you want us to get married?"

Izzy scratched her arm absent-mindedly. "Yeah." She said quietly.

"Yeah?" John asked.

"Yeah. well…" Izzy paused, taking a deep breath. "I'd be nice to have a mom again."

John wrapped his arm around her shoulders and kissed her head.

"Maybe someday." John said.

* * *

Torren went straight for the basket of toys they kept in the living room for when Teyla and Torren came to visit. John and Teyla went for a walk after dinner, leaving Izzy with Torren for a while.

Now that Torren was walking, he dashed everywhere he could. Izzy had a hard time keeping up with him, and he had to be watched at all times so as to not tumble down the stairs or stick his finger in an electrical socket.

They really needed to baby proof the house.

He had a tennis ball in his hand and held it up, squealing in delight. Izzy was pretty sure he would play sports when he got older as throwing and rolling balls of any kind was his favorite thing to do.

"What do you have, TJ?" Izzy asked. Torren brought his arm back and threw the ball. It bounced once and rolled towards Izzy.

His expression gradually changed over the next little while, going from playful and happy to sleepy and a little cranky. He started playing with the hair on the back of his head, which told Izzy that he was ready to sleep.

"What's wrong, buddy?" Izzy asked.

Torren extended his arms and opened and closed his fists, telling Izzy that he wanted to be picked up. She obliged, and he snuggled in immediately, resting his head on Izzy's shoulder.

Izzy laid down on the couch with Torren in her arms. She glanced down at him and he was already asleep. She adjusted him in her arms and dozed off, needing a nap after the events of the day.

John and Teyla returned a little while later, expecting a mess of toys on the floor but happy kids. What they found instead was a mess of toys, but instead of happy kids they found two sleeping ones… Torren resting on Izzy, both asleep and unaware that they had returned.

Teyla smiled softly and looked up at John lovingly. Anyone that spent more than a few minutes with the pair knew that they were deeply in love. John could easily see himself spending the rest of his life with Teyla at his side. Between Izzy and Teyla, John had become a more caring, nurturing person. And Teyla couldn't be more proud of him.

"Why don't you both just sleep here." John suggested. "I'm sure Izzy has some clothes that will fit and it looks like you have enough stuff in that bag to last Torren the next month." He teased, gesturing to the suitcase-sized bag sitting near the front door.

Teyla grinned, wrapping her arms around John's waist. "It would be nice to not have to make the trip back to Atlantis tonight."

John nodded, kissing the side of Teyla's head before crouching next to Izzy, resting his hand on her shoulder.

Izzy blinked a few times so the blurriness would go away, smiling tiredly when she realized who was next to her.

"Hi, Dad." She whispered.

"Hey." John responded equally as quiet. Izzy's eyes slipped shut, but he could tell she was listening to him. "Teyla and Torren are going to sleep here, can you help me get the spare room ready?"

Izzy nodded and sat up carefully, letting John help her off the couch with a sleeping Torren in her arms. She passed Torren to Teyla and went to the guest bedroom to make sure the bed was made.

One thing that John and Teyla established in the early days of their relationship was that they would not sleep together until they were married, for the sake of their children. It was extremely difficult, for both of them, but they wanted to do what was best for their kids.

While neither were opposed to it, they wanted to set a good example for Izzy. John wanted to teach her to be sure to find someone that loved her deeply and that she loved in return and to not give herself away to just anyone. He figured the best way to teach that to her was through his own actions.

After all, he couldn't exactly sleep with half the women on Atlantis and expect her to wait until she found the right person. He had to lead by example.

This was one area in which John had changed in the past few years since Izzy stormed into his life and changed everything (in the best way possible). No longer looking for quick flings, but a lasting relationship that would bring more stability into his family's life.

Izzy returned to the living room. "Guest room is ready, I think I'm going to head to bed."

John glanced at his watch. It was barely after 8pm on a Friday night. "You sure, kiddo? Teyla and I were going to watch 'Batman Begins.'"

Izzy grinned. It was her favorite movie, and John knew it.

"You know how much I love that movie." Izzy smirked.

"Of course I do." John stated incredulously, a teasing glint in his eyes. "I also know that it could convince you to stay awake past 8pm on a Friday. And so that you could explain to Teyla why you love this movie so much."

Teyla smiled at them. "I do not understand what this Batman thing is, but I would like to see why you two seem to love it so much."

Izzy laughed tiredly. "Fine. But I'm at least going to put comfier clothes on."

Izzy came back downstairs, carrying a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt for Teyla to put on. John had changed into a grey hoodie and track pants and a bowl of popcorn was sitting on the coffee table. Izzy grabbed her favorite blanket and curled into the corner of the couch.

John sat next to her and Teyla sat on the other side of John after putting Torren down for the night.

At some point in the movie John realized he was the only one awake. Teyla was leaning into his side and Izzy's head was on his lap.

The movie ended and John let the credits roll, enjoying the closeness he felt to his girls… his family. The two he loved more than anything else.

Teyla stirred awake and looked over at John and Izzy tenderly.

"So… what'd you think of the movie?" John winked, knowing she slept through half of it and talking quietly so as to not disturb his obviously exhausted child.

Teyla chuckled softly. "I'm sorry John, I could not keep my eyes open. We will have to watch Batman again when I'm not so tired."

"Well, you aren't the only one that's tired." John smirked at the soft snores coming from Izzy.

"Sounded like she had a difficult day." Teyla said, softly brushing the hair back from Izzy's forehead. John knew she was talking about the fight she got into at school.

"Yeah." John agreed. Teyla immediately noticed the faraway look in his eyes.

Teyla placed her hand on John's arm. "You handled it very well, John."

John smiled appreciatively at Teyla. Sometimes he forgot that she could read him so well and it unnerved him. He could read people too, but it was different than Teyla. She was so good at reading him she verbalized almost exactly what he was thinking.

He sighed, lightly stroking the strands of wavy hair that fell down Izzy's shoulders.

"I thought that Rodney was difficult to handle on his best days, but parenting a teenager is an entirely different force of nature. One of my friends compared parenting a teenager to trying to nail Jell-O to a wall."

Teyla laughed at the comparison and leaned in closer.

Izzy stirred at the commotion and rolled on her back to look at her father and Teyla.

"Sorry kiddo, we didn't mean to wake you." John said, running his hand up and down her arm.

Izzy nodded and turned back to her side, falling back to sleep immediately.

"I think she's more exhausted than I originally thought." John said.

"I believe so." Teyla agreed, yawning hugely.

"I think that's our cue to go to bed." John said, leaning in to give Teyla a gentle kiss.

"You going to risk waking her again?" A smile tugged at the corners of her lips.

John smirked. "No way."

Teyla smiled and gave John another kiss before rising from the couch.

"I will see you in the morning." She said.

"Good night." John replied, watching as Teyla retreated to the guest room for the evening.

John sat back and basked in the moment for a few minutes longer. He felt so much gratitude at the way his life had turned out. Not too long ago, he didn't have a family. Sure, he had his brother, but they had lost touch long before he even enrolled in the Air Force.

Then he moved to Atlantis. He became close with a few other members of the expedition. He didn't have anyone else, so they became his family.

Then Izzy came into the picture. The family he didn't know he had but always hoped for. She wasn't the perfect child, and he wasn't the perfect parent. But somehow, the two of them made a perfect team, even on the most imperfect days (like the day they just had).

He took her hand in his and examined her knuckles. The swelling had gone down and they were starting to bruise, but they didn't look too bad and would heal in a few days. He rubbed his thumb over them softly.

John shifted positions and picked up his sleeping child, carrying her upstairs to her bedroom for the night. Even after knowing her for two years, he was blown away that he could love someone as much as he loved his daughter.

His mind wandered to the sleeping woman and child downstairs. The three people that he loved most were in the house together after spending a quiet evening around food, walks around the block, and snuggling together in front of a movie.

He could definitely get used to this.

* * *

 **A/N: Special thanks to my amazing beta, miss izzysheppard, for being awesome at helping me and finding the perfect balance of pestering & encouraging. Go check out her SGA story "Remembering Who We Were" - it's awesome! And she will be posting the next chapter soon, right dude? You can find the story under "favorite stories" on my profile page.**

 **You can also find me on twitter! username is izzysheppard. There you will find updates on the story and where I am on posting new chapters.**

 **I also want to thank each of you who reviewed, favorited, and followed! It's awesome to see some of the same people return for the next adventure but it's great to see some new people as well!**

To those that reviewed:

gandalfnho - Thank you so much! You will have to stay tuned to see if Atlantis will stay on Earth or return to Pegasus :)

 **Guest 64** \- Thanks for the review! I'm so glad you've returned for part three in John  & Izzy's adventures. I love John and Teyla together so much, but they won't be a main focus of this story (even though it seems like they are so far, we're still in the setting-up stages for drama down the road :))! Hopefully the amount of Sheyla I put in this story will be satisfactory!

 **Rachael S** \- Thanks for the review! I know it's been a little while since I've posted but hopefully you weren't waiting in agony for too long. :) I have the day off work today so I'm hoping to be able to get the next chapter finalized so I can post it in a few days.

 **thewolf74** \- Thanks for the review, yo! If you're happy that John and Izzy are happy then I'm sure you loved this chapter :)

 **thompsonmaria9** \- Thanks for leaving a review! So glad you liked it. I'm curious to see when I post something that you won't like. ;)

 **tammyhenson** \- Thanks for the review! I know it's been a little while since I posted last but hopefully you weren't waiting in agony for too long :). I'll be trying to post a chapter (on average) every other week!

 **izzysheppard** \- I stinkin' love you! Thanks for reading this chapter and giving me your input before I posted. It was super helpful! You'll probably see a little bit of the verbiage that I changed after editing a few more times.

 **LoveStoryFanatic** \- Thanks for the review! I know Sheyla has been a long time coming, and I hope that you don't mind that this chapter skipped ahead a few months. It's gonna slow down again from here on out as we deal with relationship stuff, new enemies, settling into routine, etc. etc. Hope you enjoy! P.S - I'm actually am really terrible at writing romantic relationships so if you have any suggestions or whatever feel free to let me know so I can get better. kkthanks :)

 **guardianranger** \- Thanks for the review! So glad you've joined us on part three!

 **sheyladebaloo** \- Thanks for the review! I'm happy that you're happy about the Sheyla pairing! It only seemed natural since I always felt they should have been together throughout the whole series. This chapter was pretty smooth-sailing, but it won't always be! There will be the occasional conflict here and there. :)

 **adela** \- Thanks for the review and for joining us on part three of John  & Izzy's adventures! I hope you enjoy!


	3. Of Carpet Monsters & Soccer Tryouts

Chapter 3 - Of Carpet Monsters & Soccer Tryouts

"It's about time Rodney got this transporter up and running." Izzy said. She had met Jason at the Warehouse for some hand-to-hand combat training after school while she waited for John to finish up for the day.

"Definitely makes it a lot easier." Jason said. "I was worried that my arm was going to be beamed out or something my first time on it."

Izzy laughed. "Well we can see if it'll handle two people because I need to go see Carson."

"Those darn carpet monsters making a grab for you again." Jason said, pushing the button to beam them to Atlantis.

"Hey, I was holding my own pretty well until I tripped on my own feet. Maybe I'm going through a growth spurt." Izzy said.

Jason smirked at Izzy. "I doubt that, and I was going easy on you."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night." Izzy teased. "I'll see you later."

"Later." Jason said, giving Izzy a fist bump as they parted ways. She was a bit gimpy on her sore knee, but tried to make the limp less noticeable so people didn't stare at her.

Izzy sat on a rolling chair and pushed her way through the infirmary until she found Carson.

"This is an infirmary Izzy, not a racetrack for desk chairs." He said without looking up from the computer.

"How did you know it was me?" Izzy asked.

"You're the only one that comes in here and pushes the chairs around." He said good-naturedly.

"Well everyone else is boring." Izzy said.

Dr. Beckett closed his laptop lid and turned to face his favorite teenager.

"Something wrong or did you just come by to see me?" Carson asked, giving Izzy his full attention.

"Can it be both?" She asked.

Carson grinned. "Who were you sparring with this time?"

"Jason. He said he was going easy on me but I think I was holding my own pretty well." Izzy explained.

"Where'd he get you?" Carson asked, snapping on a pair of gloves and pointing towards one of the infirmary beds.

Izzy hopped up. It was basically an established routine to come to the infirmary for treatment every couple of weeks. Though now she wasn't on base every day, she wasn't sparring as often as she used to, and thus less time spent in the infirmary.

"Just my knee this time. He didn't really 'get me' as much as I just tripped on my own feet." Izzy explained. "And I came down on it really hard."

Izzy sat sideways on the infirmary cot, propped her leg on the mattress and let Carson examine her knee. It was swollen and a dark bruise was forming at the base of her kneecap. It already looked disgusting.

"You sure did come down on it hard, didn't you?" Carson asked, disappearing into the supply closet briefly and emerging with a bag of ice.

"Yeah and I have soccer tryouts tomorrow so if you could numb it up or something that'd be splendid." Izzy said.

"Well I want to get a scan first before I clear you to play." Carson said, poking around her knee to see if he could feel any damage.

"Carson!" Izzy whined, drawing his name out into several unnecessary syllables. "I have to play."

"I didn't say you couldn't play," Carson explained, "I just said that I needed to put you under the scanner first."

Izzy sulked. "I guess I can live with that."

Carson helped Izzy off the bed and she limped over to the scanner.

The doctor pushed a few buttons and the arm moved over her legs. Izzy sat up when the scan was done and waited for Carson to finish looking at the scans.

"Bad news." Carson said.

Izzy's breath caught in her throat.

"What is it?" She asked, already dreading the answer.

"You're gonna have to limp around the soccer field tomorrow." Carson winked at her.

"Oh that's not even funny." Izzy said.

"Everything looks fine, structure wise. It's probably a bone bruise. I'll give you something you can take tomorrow before tryouts to help with the pain. But I want you to stay off of it as much as possible. Keep it elevated and ice it tonight; you should be good to go tomorrow." He explained.

Izzy rolled her eyes. "You're unbelievable."

Carson grinned and pulled his gloves off, throwing them in a nearby trashcan.

"So how's school going?" Carson asked.

"It's fine. School is school." Izzy shrugged.

"Are you making friends?"

Izzy rubbed her sore knee. "I guess."

Carson leaned on the bed next to her good knee. "That's not very convincing."

"I don't know. It's weird because I feel like I don't fit in anywhere. Most of the classes I have are with the eleventh graders and it's hard to give people answers when they ask questions about me because I can't actually give them the real answer." Izzy said.

"What kind of questions do they ask?" Carson asked.

"Well it usually starts with what my name is…."

"…Obviously…"

"… and is shortly followed by where I lived before coming to San Francisco." Izzy said.

"Ah." Carson replied. "And you can't exactly tell them that you lived on Atlantis in the Pegasus Galaxy."

"Yeah." Izzy said.

"So what do you normally tell them?" Carson asked.

"That my mom died a couple years ago and then I moved around a little bit with my dad until we settled here."

Carson gave her a sympathetic look and rubbed her shoulder briefly.

"Oh, and the best question was when Principal Sanders asked where I learned how to punch that guy just right so that I didn't break his nose." Izzy said, rolling her eyes.

"I mean what do you even say to that? 'Oh, just from several different marines and soldiers some of whom aren't even from this planet'?" Izzy asked incredulously.

"So instead you said…"

"… my dad and some of his military buddies." She shrugged.

"Right." Carson said.

Izzy swung her non-gimpy leg over the side of the bed idly.

"This is where you jump in, say it'll get easier, make me feel better, and I walk away ready to conquer the world…"

Carson raised his eyebrows and chuckled.

"…or maybe just the tenth grade."

Carson wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "It's hard at first, but it will get easier. You'll get into a rhythm soon, make new friends, pass your classes in flying colors, and dominate the soccer team."

Izzy smiled.

"Or you won't. You could be friendless, fail your classes, be demoted to bench warmer, and completely blow a government secret…"

"…Wow. You really know how to make a girl feel good about herself…"

"…But I would be still be proud of you."

Izzy grinned. "Thanks."

Carson grinned. "Let me know when your first game is." He said, patting her good knee.

"You don't even know I'm gonna make the team." Izzy said, accepting his hand as she attempted to climb off the infirmary bed without injuring her knee further.

Carson laughed. "You'll make the team."

* * *

"Isabelle and Harper, you're up." Coach Taylor made a few notes on his clipboard.

Dr. Beckett's meds had helped the pain significantly and now Izzy felt good enough that she barely noticed the pain at the base of her kneecap. She was nervous for this drill. One-on-one. And she was paired against one of the better girls trying out.

Izzy stepped out to the center of the field. First person to score a goal won.

Coach Taylor rolled the soccer ball onto the field. Izzy took off in a sprint.

She reached the ball first and quickly stopped it, bringing her left foot forward while her right foot pushed the ball back and to the side.

Harper anticipated her move and took the ball. She kicked it in the direction of her goal, but Izzy caught up with her and stole the ball.

She sprinted in the opposite direction towards her goal and stayed ahead almost to the end when Harper ran in front of her and tried to keep her form going any further.

Izzy anticipated her move and swung her foot as if she was going to kick the ball to the right, but her left foot took the ball in the opposite direction. It was a simple move executed perfectly, and Izzy was big enough to admit that even she impressed herself.

Harper slipped and Izzy took off again. She brought her foot back and made contact with the ball on the inside of her foot. The girl tending the goal dove to the right to grab the ball but it was just out of her reach.

Izzy one. Harper zero. Drill over.

Coach Taylor gave her a high five as she exited the field. "Impressive move, Isabelle."

"Thanks, Coach." Izzy was out of breath, red-faced, and sweaty but overall proud of herself.

The tryouts ended. She would find out in the morning if she made the team or not. She was pretty confident that she would, but there was always the possibility that she would be cut altogether.

She took off her cleats, shin guards, and socks and slid into her adidas sandals. She looked up and saw John leaning against the front of his car.

"Hey, Dad." Izzy said brightly.

"How'd it go?" He asked, taking her soccer bag and backpack from her and dropping both in the trunk.

Izzy shrugged. "Good, I think."

"I saw that last drill you did. You faked her out pretty good at the end." John said proudly, starting the engine.

Izzy rolled down her window as soon as the car was running. Early September in San Francisco meant a lot of heat, and the air conditioning in John's car didn't work well for the first few minutes.

"I've known that move for forever. She was moving too fast to the right so I knew if I faked her out to make her keep going and then cut inside to the left I might get a shot at the goal." Izzy explained.

"Well, I only caught the very end, but you kicked butt. I think you'll make the team, but if not I'm still proud of you." John said, glancing over and grinning at her.

It was just what she needed to hear. Now if she could only be patient enough until morning.

* * *

Izzy walked into school the next day, practically jittering. She took her time and went to her locker, switching out the books she would need for the first couple classes.

She wandered towards the main office. There were a few people standing near the bulletin board outside the main office doors. One girl whose name she didn't remember looked sad, but two others girls were jumping up and down.

Izzy waited until the small crowd cleared and walked up to the bulletin board.

Her eyes scanned the top list: Junior Varsity.

Harper Stevens, the girl she played against in the one-on-one drill, was on that list, but Izzy didn't see her name. Her heart jumped in her chest. Harper was pretty good, and she only made the JV squad.

Varsity.

Anne Carter. Maggie Heder. Bridget Jansen. Katie Hughes. Melissa Lance. Ashley McDonald. Rachel Rice.

 _Isabelle Sheppard._

Izzy nearly jumped up and down in excitement. Instead, she smiled hugely and pulled out her phone, texting John and Carson immediately.

 _Guess who has two thumbs, one gimpy knee, and made VARSITY!?_

John's response was almost immediate.

 _That can't be my daughter. Congrats! I'll pick up ice cream on the way home to celebrate._

Izzy smiled and typed a response.

She checked her phone again at the end of first period to read Carson's response.

 _I told you so._

Izzy giggled and rolled her eyes. That sounded about right.

* * *

 **A/N: Hope you enjoyed chapter 3! It will pick up in the next couple chapters as I will be introducing a new enemy in the Milky Way Galaxy (*gasp*) as well as throwing some other drama in there.**

 **Mega thanks to my beta izzysheppard for the endless support & encouragement. Love ya friend!**

 **EVERYONE go read her story "Remembering Who We Were"… it's fantastic, and she just posted the second chapter!**

 **Thanks to all who followed/favorited and especially to those who reviewed!**

 **thompsonmaria9:** Hey friend! Thanks for reviewing and sticking with this! Hope you enjoyed chapter three and as always feel free to throw in suggestions or different situations you would like to see in the story!

 **Guest:** You're totally right, it's been smooth sailing so far! Hold on to your hat, though, because it's gonna get bumpy soon!

 **Guest 64:** Thanks so much for your review! I'm glad you liked John's reaction and how John/Teyla are handling their relationship. I tried to think of what the characters would actually do if that happened to stay true to them, but also threw in my imagination. I hope you continue to enjoy the story!

 **thewolf74:** Thanks for the review! John may or may not pop the question soon, but he will eventually Hope you continue to enjoy!

 **LoveStoryFanatic:** Thanks for the review, friend! I'll be sure to let you know if I'm unsure of something and you can help me out. I love the idea for the proposal! I'll have to start working on that soon.

 **Adela:** Thanks for the review! So glad you enjoy! It's smooth sailing for now but there's gonna be some drama pretty soon.


	4. New Enemies

Chapter 4 - New Enemies

"You're Izzy, right? The new girl?"

Izzy glanced up from where she was taking her shin guards and cleats off after practice. Two of her teammates were standing in front of her. Maggie and Bridget if she remembered correctly.

Maggie had fair skin, green eyes, and black hair. She stood at about the same height as Izzy at 5 feet six inches.

Bridget was tan but had strawberry blonde hair. They were inseparable, it seemed, as Izzy had a few classes with them.

"Yeah, hi." She said nervously, stuffing her shoes into her bag.

"I'm Maggie, this is Bridget." The black haired girl said.

"Nice to meet you guys." Izzy said with a genuine smile. She had a hard time making friends so far and was hopeful that she could be friends with them.

"We just wanted to tell you that you can come to us if you need any help at all." Bridget said.

"Thanks," Izzy smiled, standing from the bench.

"You're in our pre-calc class, right?" Maggie asked, walking next to Izzy towards the parking lot to meet their rides back home.

"Yeah." Izzy said.

"Are you in eleventh grade?" Maggie inquired.

Izzy laughed a bit. "No, tenth."

"Wow, you must be super smart." Maggie commented.

Izzy shrugged. "My dad is kind of a math geek so I guess I just take after him."

Bridget smiled and nudged Maggie. "I think we're gonna have to ask her for help, not the other way around."

Izzy smiled as they laughed. "Probably not. But we can help each other because so far it's pretty much torture."

"Oh my gosh I know. And our teacher doesn't help. He looks like Harry Potter and Shrek made a baby, just not the same shade of green."

The three of them laughed. Izzy shook her head at the mental picture. That was something she wouldn't be able to get out of her mind for a while.

"At least he doesn't smell bad like Mr. Parsons." Bridget said.

"Like does he shower? He always smells like sweat and mothballs." Izzy commented.

Maggie's started laughing so hard that she snorted, which set the three of them off laughing even harder.

"I like this girl, Mags." Bridget said, looping her arm with Izzy's.

Izzy smiled. "Well hey. I see my dad so I'll see you in pre-calc tomorrow."

"Where's your dad?" Maggie asked.

Izzy gestured towards their black SUV and the man with messy hair leaning against the hood with a small smirk on his face. She returned the small wave that her father gave her.

"That's your dad?" Bridget stage-whispered.

"Yeah." Izzy said, confused at her new friends' behavior.

Maggie glanced a Bridget and then at Izzy. "He's like, really hot."

"I thought you said he was a math geek." Bridget commented.

"Oh, he is." Izzy rolled her eyes. "See you tomorrow."

Izzy walked to her father and handed him her bags when he held out his hand for them.

They got into the car wordlessly. John didn't speak until they were comfortably heading away from the school.

"So what was that about?" He asked.

"Maggie and Bridget." Izzy said. "They're just funny."

"They were staring at us until we pulled away." John stated.

"Yeah, they think you're hot." Izzy giggled.

John furrowed his eyebrows.

"No worries, Dad. Most girls think that most men are attractive." Izzy shrugged. "Part of the hormones I think."

John's frown deepened.

Izzy glanced at his expression and smirked.

"I think you're gonna have to get used to it."

* * *

Izzy woke the next morning and immediately knew it wasn't going to be a good day. Her stomach was in knots and she felt anxious to the point of not wanting to get out of bed.

The only time she could remember feeling something comparable to what she was currently feeling was the first day at her new school. And even that wasn't as half as bad as in that moment.

Plus, it was a Saturday. She should be happy.

The weather reflected her mood perfectly as the normally sunny San Francisco was covered in a blanket of gray clouds and large droplets falling from the sky.

After glancing at the clock, she saw that she only had thirty minutes before she left with John to go to Atlantis for the weekend. She sighed and changed into her weekend wear, grabbing her favorite hoodie from her closet on her way out the door.

John was waiting in the kitchen with a thermos of tea for her and coffee for him.

"Morning." John said, grabbing a granola bar from the pantry.

Izzy gave a half-assed wave in response. Neither of them were morning people and it usually took at least thirty minutes before either started talking to the other, and it worked for them.

Izzy tied her shoes and handed John her bag when he held out his hand for it.

"Got everything?" He asked.

Izzy nodded in response.

Once they had gotten to Atlantis, John was swept away to meetings and Izzy wandered to find a quiet place to do her homework.

"Izzy?"

Izzy turned at the sound of her name.

"Landon?" Izzy asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Reassignment." He said. "I got moved back to Atlantis."

Izzy paused, her emotions at war with each other.

"What about your family?" She asked. They were the reason he had left Atlantis the first time almost a year ago.

Landon shook his head. "They... " Landon cleared his throat and blinked furiously, trying in vain to keep the tears at bay. "Drunk driver hit my aunt and uncle. Harper and I are living in an apartment not too far from the Warehouse."

Izzy's eyes widened and tears came forward instantly.

His parents, and his aunt and uncle - the people who had stepped into his life in a parent role - all were gone.

At least she had her father. Landon had no one.

He looked tired. Izzy noticed it as soon as she saw him. It had taken a strong toll on him and she sensed it immediately. The circles under his eyes were dark and his forehead had lines permanently imprinted from worry and grief.

Izzy didn't say anything. She didn't have to. She knew what loss felt like.

She stepped forward and hugged him, placing her ear over his heart.

"How long ago?" Izzy asked.

Landon sniffed. "Two weeks."

They stood like that for what seemed like minutes but could have been hours.

Landon was the first to pull away. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to weep all over you."

Izzy shook her head. "You don't have to apologize."

She opened her mouth to speak but the sound of her radio cut it off.

"Izzy come in." John said.

Izzy sighed. "Go ahead."

"Meet me in my office."

"Be right there."

Izzy stuffed her radio in her back pocket and opened her mouth to talk, hesitating.

Landon shook his head. "Go."

Izzy hesitated.

"Go." He repeated. "We'll catch up later."

Izzy walked away and entered her father's office, letting the door slide shut behind them.

"So Landon is back." Izzy said, taking a seat in the chair in front of his desk.

John looked up, a thoughtful expression on his face as if something dawned on him. "Oh yeah." he said. "I forgot to tell you."

Izzy rolled her eyes.

"Did you know his family died?" Izzy asked quietly, wiping at her eyes inconspicuously.

John paused, shuffling the papers on his desk. "I'd heard that too."

John glanced up at his daughter. She was twirling one of the ends of her hair around her finger and staring into space.

"You okay?" He asked.

Izzy's eyes snapped to his and nodded.

"Good, because I have to go off-world." John said.

"'Kay." She said.

John studied her closely. She seemed distracted and unfazed by him leaving. Part of him was hoping that she would be fine with it but the other part of him was confused at her lack of a reaction. Sure, she had been engulfed in this way of life for almost two years but she still didn't like it when he left. And he didn't like leaving.

"I'm not sure how long we'll be gone yet, but Carson is gonna look after you. You'll stay here for the weekend and if I'm not back by Sunday night he's gonna take you to school Monday morning."

Izzy nodded.

"When do you leave?" She asked.

John glanced at his watch.

"Now, ish." He said, standing from his desk.

Sure, she didn't like it when he left.. especially for multiple days at a time, but she was used to it by now. Not that she ever thought she would be fully used to it, she at least accepted it.

Izzy walked with him to the armory, hugged him when he left, and told him that she loved him before he stepped through the blue.

* * *

A day and a half passed without much excitement. It was Sunday night when they dialed back in. Izzy was in the library sleeping when they dialed in and only woke when one of the nurses hovered over her.

"Izzy." She whispered, shaking her shoulder gently.

"Hmm." Izzy said, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"The teams are back." She said.

Izzy scrambled off the couch and left for the direction of the infirmary, knowing they would be there for their post-mission blood work.

"Wait." The nurse said.

Izzy turned.

"Dr. Beckett wants to talk to you when you get there." She said.

Izzy's breath caught in her throat. She knew it wasn't going to be good news.

She entered the infirmary and immediately felt the tense atmosphere. Ronon was sitting on a nearby infirmary bed, one of the nurses taking blood from his arm. He was surprisingly not protesting and was sitting there quietly, letting the medical staff do whatever they needed.

Ronon caught her eye. She almost took a step back at the look she saw in his eyes as she couldn't quite interpret it. He wasn't angry. If anything he was scared… scared of what she didn't know, but if it made Ronon that unsettled then she probably didn't want to find out.

"Carson?" Izzy asked, looking around for him.

Dr. Beckett appeared from around the corner. His eyes seemed bluer than normal and he was pale and wide-eyed.

He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and led her out of the infirmary.

"Carson what is it?" Izzy asked.

"Not here." He said gently.

Izzy let Carson lead her in silence until he led her to a quiet balcony. Izzy didn't like where this was going at all, and she was beginning to fear that something had happened to John.

Carson sat on a bench and Izzy took a seat next to him.

"Something happened on the mission." Carson said, gazing over the ocean at the Golden Gate Bridge.

Izzy's eyes widened. She wiped her sweaty palms over her pants as the anxiety took hold of her. She took a deep breath in and deep breath out and prayed that John was still alive.

"Your father and his team encountered an enemy that they we have not come across yet, either in this galaxy or the Pegasus. Major Lorne described them as humanoid creatures with solid black eyes that can change colors to match their surroundings, making them difficult to see at times. In addition to changing colors…" Carson trailed off at the look of Izzy's terrified expression.

Carson cleared his throat. "Their weapons don't kill. Once someone is shot it puts them in a state similar to a coma. We don't know why their weapons don't kill, but what we do know is that if you're shot with one of them you don't die."

Izzy studied Carson's expression. He was trying to find the right words and wasn't succeeding.

"Just tell me." Izzy said.

Carson put his arm on the back of the bench around Izzy's shoulders.

"Your father was shot." There. He said it. The worst part was over.

A single tear ran down Izzy's cheek.

"But it's not like a stunner." She clarified. "He's not simply unconscious."

Carson shook his head. "His symptoms and readings are identical to someone in a coma."

"Do you know when he'll wake up?" Izzy asked, wiping at her cheeks.

Carson shook his head, regret that he couldn't give her a better answer lacing his features.

Izzy swallowed thickly. "Can I see him?" She asked.

"Of course." He said. Carson squeezed her shoulders and kissed the side of her head before standing and offering his hand.

Izzy took it and let him take the lead again. He led her to one of the observation rooms where they were keeping John. Carson looked at her and let her have a moment before she nodded, the door sliding open.

The room was dim but light enough that she could easily see everything. Mr. Woolsey, Teyla, and Ronon were standing together on the deck above the room.

Izzy let go of Carson's hand and the door closed behind her, leaving her alone with her father.

She approached the bed and watched his chest rise and fall with each breath. He was wearing dark red scrubs and didn't appear to have any physical injuries. In fact, it looked like he was sleeping.

Izzy climbed on the bed next to him and placed her ear over his heart, the tears silently sliding down her cheeks. His heartbeat was the same. If anything it was slower than normal. Surely he would wake up soon. He had to. If for nothing else, he needed to wake up for her.

* * *

Monday morning rolled around. She was still sleeping on the infirmary bed next to John, neither of them having moved a muscle the entire night.

Carson was standing next to the bed monitoring John's vital signs, but set the tablet down and moved next to Izzy when she started to stir.

"How are you feeling?" Carson asked softly, pinning her with a look that only a doctor could give.

Izzy shrugged. She didn't know how to answer that question. She was physically fine, but mentally and emotionally was a different story, and that wasn't that particular doctor's area of expertise.

"How is he?" She asked.

"About the same." Carson said.

"Any signs of him waking up soon?" Izzy asked.

Carson shook his head sadly. "I'm afraid not."

Izzy sighed and sat up. "What time is it?" She asked.

Carson glanced at his watch. "Almost 7."

"Can you drive me to school?" Izzy asked.

Carson hesitated. "I don't think - "

"I'm fine." Izzy insisted. "If anything it will help keep my mind off of it."

Carson sighed. "I don't think you should go, but I understand."

Izzy nodded.

"I'll see if Sergeant Markham can drive you." Carson added. "I need to stay here and figure out how to wake up your father."

Izzy sobbed in the shower, but she let the hot water fall over her face to wash the tears away. She felt the overwhelming need to be strong on the outside, but why she wasn't totally sure. She knew in her heart that no one expected her to be strong, not for this, it just hadn't made its way to her head or emotions yet.

Thirty minutes later there was a light knock on the door. She and John still had some belongings in their old quarters but most of it had been moved to their new house in San Francisco. She grabbed a hoodie that she left there and moved to open the door.

She waved her hand over the control panel, not surprised that Jason was on the other side of it.

"You ready to go, kid?" He asked, his face lined with barely-hidden worry.

Izzy nodded and swung her backpack over her shoulder.

The ride to school was quiet. Jason tried to get Izzy to talk multiple times but she stayed quiet, preferring to spend the ride in silence, mostly worrying about John.

He pulled into the parking lot. Izzy moved to get out of the car but Jason stopped her when he grabbed her wrist.

"If you need anything, I'm a phone call away." He said.

Izzy nodded.

"I'm serious. If today becomes too much just tell me and I'll come get you."

Izzy leaned across the seat and wrapped her arms around his neck, squeezing tightly.

"Thanks." Izzy said.

* * *

All was going well until lunch. She sat with Maggie and Bridget and tried her best to seem normal but she knew she was failing miserably.

"Are you sure you're feeling okay?" Bridget asked.

Izzy nodded. She had been doing a lot of that today. She didn't think she was convincing others and she definitely wasn't convincing herself either.

Maggie glanced at Bridget and they both shrugged. Izzy pushed food around her plate more than actually eating it. She wasn't hungry anyways, and her stomach flipped even at the thought of food.

"Are you able to come over after practice today?" Maggie asked, directing the question to Bridget.

"No, I can't. My dad said I have to come home and finish homework." She said.

"That's stupid. Why don't you just tell him you can do homework at my house?"

"You don't think I tried that? It's like he doesn't understand that sometimes I just don't want to see him and need some space."

"Last week my dad…"

Izzy tried really hard to ignore them, but when they started complaining about their dads, anger started bubbling inside of her and she snapped.

Izzy made their rambling cease immediately when she abruptly stood from the table, the chair clattering to the ground behind her as it fell to the floor.

"At least your dad isn't in a coma." She yelled. The noise level in the cafeteria died as suddenly as she snapped, and she found that she had 150 pairs of eyes watching her.

Izzy felt her skin grow hot and offered a half hearted "sorry" to her friends before bolting from the cafeteria, heading straight for the school doors.

She was across the parking lot and started down the sidewalk in record time, heading for a nearby park.

She pulled out her cell phone and flipped it open, hesitating only briefly before calling Jason.

"Hey kid." Jason said. "How are you doing?"

Izzy had held it together until he answered after the first ring, which told her that he was keeping his phone nearby today in case she needed him.

Her chin quivered and the tears started pouring from her eyes. Izzy took a deep breath. "Can you come get me?"

"Already on my way." Jason reassured. "Are you still at school?"

"No." Izzy said, calming down marginally now that she knew Jason was going to come get her. "I'm at the park down the block."

"Wait there, I'll be there as soon as I can." Jason said. "Hang in there."

Izzy nodded, even though she knew he couldn't see her. She hung up and found a comfortable spot on a bench overlooking a playground down the hill. A few people gave her strange looks as they walked by, but mostly they left her alone. There were many children playing together with mothers, grandmothers, and a few fathers watching and playing with them.

A while later, someone sat to the bench to her left and she didn't have to look to know that it was Jason. She leaned into his side when he rested his arm on the back of the bench around her shoulders.

"What happened?" He asked.

Izzy shrugged. "It was fine until they started complaining about their dads. I kind of… snapped."

"I see." Jason said.

Jason paused. "I called the school. I explained what was going on and told them you wouldn't be in for at least a few days."

Izzy nodded against his shoulder. "What did they say?"

"Principal Sanders sent his best wishes and said to take as much time as you need. He's arranging to have your assignments sent." Jason ran his hand up and down her arm.

The air grew silent. She watched as a kid slid down the slide and into the arms of her father, both had looks of pure joy on their faces. She frowned.

"Any news on my dad?" Izzy asked, even though she already knew the answer.

Jason sighed. "Nothing yet. Beckett and Keller have been working with their teams all day and night."

Izzy grew silent again.

"Let's say we go home." Jason suggested.

* * *

Izzy changed into sweatpants and one of John's black pullovers when they got back to the City. She stayed by his side all day, occasionally talking to him as if he was awake and could hear her. She heard stories of people waking from a coma and how they were completely aware of everything going on around them. She hoped that John could hear her.

It was late at night and many people had gone to sleep for the evening. Carson came in to take another blood sample around 11:30pm. Izzy had laid down next to John at that point.

"Why don't you sleep in your quarters tonight?" Carson suggested.

Izzy adamantly shook her head.

"I'm going to be here all night, Izzy. I'll let you know if anything changes." Carson stated.

Izzy shook her head again.

Carson sighed and rubbed at his forehead, accepting defeat.

"I'll be back in a little while to check up on you." Carson said softly, squeezing her shoulder.

The door slid shut and for the first time in a while she was alone with her father. She took the opportunity to talk to him and to tell him what had really been going on.

"School was a little rough today." Izzy said quietly. "I couldn't focus in my classes and I couldn't stop thinking… worrying…"

Izzy looked at her father to see if he acknowledged that he could hear her at all. She wasn't surprised that he hadn't moved a muscle.

"Maggie and Bridget started complaining about how annoying their dads were. That's when I lost it. I called Jason and he picked me up from school. Only after I cried for a little while."

Izzy shifted and snuggled closer, pulling the blanket more firmly around her shoulders.

"I don't know what happened out there, but I don't think I want to find out. Carson told me a little bit but he stopped because it was freaking me out. Maybe someday I'll be able to hear what happened."

"Carson has been taking good care of me, but he doesn't know how to like you do. He means well, but it's not the same."

She sniffed, wiping at her nose with the back of her hand.

"I miss you." She whispered, her chin betraying her as it began to quiver.

"Please wake up."

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry for the delay - my life is crazy busy always. Mega thanks to miss izzysheppard for the feedback on this chapter!**


	5. Running Away

Chapter 5 - Running Away

Izzy hadn't been to school in three weeks. She barely ate or slept, and when she did sleep it was only next to John on the small infirmary bed.

Carson watched her with a careful eye, doing his best both as her doctor and friend to take care of her even though she was worried beyond belief. He tried to get her to eat. She would only take a few bites from the proffered plate. She drank some, usually only a calming hot tea.

And if she didn't sleep tonight, he was breaking out the meds even though he knew he was going to have to fight her on it.

Everyone was stressed out, but Izzy understandably more than anyone else. Teyla was visibly affected, and even Torren knew that something was wrong even if he wasn't aware of the specifics. Teyla sat by John's bed with Izzy for most of the day. They rarely spoke, neither having anything to say.

That morning, like every other morning for the past ten days, a team went out to try to get in contact with this new enemy to try to gather intel… maybe figure out how to wake up John.

They came back later that day empty-handed. Any hope that Izzy had left was promptly squashed under the growing belief that her father was never going to wake up.

She kissed John's cheek and left the observation room, heading to her quarters to grab a hoodie and sit on the pier.

The pier wasn't empty like she had hoped. Major Lorne was sitting with a beer in his hand and three full cans next to him, his legs dangling over the water.

Izzy took a deep breath and sat next to him.

"Little early isn't it?" She asked. It was barely after 3pm and he was already drinking.

She took the beer from his hand and tipped it back, taking a large gulp before passing it back to him.

He gave her an odd look and she shrugged.

Evan shook his head. "If it was any other day I would ream your ass out. Today I'm not in the mood."

"Good, because I'm not in the mood either." She said.

"I'd ask how you were holding up, but you look like shit." Evan stated.

"I've had better days." Izzy said.

Evan really studied her then. Her eyes were dark. Her face was void of her usual makeup. She looked thinner than normal, and her hair was greasy.

Evan reached a hand out and pushed a thick strand of hair out of her face.

"When was the last time you washed your hair?" He asked gently, his eyes soft.

Izzy shrugged, her chin beginning to quiver.

"It hurts when I tried, so I just gave up."

"What hurts?"

"My scalp. It's just really sore." Izzy sighed.

Evan paused. "Just your scalp?"

Izzy shook her head. "The rest of my skin. It feels more sensitive than normal."

"Have you told Doctor Beckett?" He asked.

"No." Izzy replied immediately.

"Why not?" He questioned.

Izzy sighed. "He's trying to wake my dad up. I don't want him worrying about me."

It was Evan's turn to sigh.

"You need to tell him." He took a long gulp.

Evan could practically hear her eyes rolling.

"We have a mission tomorrow morning." He stated, changing the subject. Arguing with her seemed useless at this point.

Izzy paused. "Where to?"

Evan put the beer can down. Izzy took another gulp.

"We got a tip from one of our contacts about high alien activity on M37-495. We're gonna go check it out. See if we can gather intel or capture one of them alive."

Izzy choked on the beer, nearly spatting it out. "You want to try to capture one of them? Alive? Are you insane?"

"Do you want your dad to wake up or not?" Evan countered.

Izzy played with the hem of her shirt. "I don't want it to happen to anyone else."

"It'll be fine. We have a good strategy in place. And then maybe we can interrogate them and figure out how to wake up your dad." Evan said, reaching out and rubbing her back briefly.

Izzy nodded, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. A small ounce of hope returned, and she clung to it with all she had.

* * *

Izzy swung her legs idly as she sat on the balcony overlooking the gate room. They were due to dial back in an hour ago but they hadn't received word from the teams yet. Izzy prayed it was going well.

Another hour passed and the gate began to spin.

"Incoming wormhole." Announced Chuck. "I'm received Major Lorne's IDC."

Izzy stood and gripped the railing. Jason came through first, his gun relaxed in front of him. Two marines and a hooded figure came through next. They had placed a cloth bag over its head, thus preventing her from seeing its face. He was in restraints and two marines were at each side. Major Lorne and Landon came through last.

Izzy smiled wanly when Landon looked up and winked at her. Things had been tense between them lately, especially with everything that was going on with John. Admittedly, she was happy to have him back in her life.

She followed the team at a distance as they led the creature to one of the holding cells. From what she could see of it, he was positively huge and nearly made Ronon look small. The arms were scaly but dry and it stood with the stature of a man.

Someone caught her arm as she was about to round a corner. She jumped, nearly having a heart attack.

"Carson." She breathed. "You nearly scared me half to death."

"You shouldn't be following them." Carson scolded. "It's not safe."

"Oh come on. He's tied up and has a bag over his head and is surrounded by a half dozen marines. I'm sure it's fine." Izzy argued.

Carson rolled his eyes but then kicked himself for his childish behavior.

"I'm sure they will let you know as they learn more." Carson said. "Come on, why don't you come with me while I look at him under a microscope?"

Izzy sighed. Carson eyed her carefully.

"I have to tell you something." she said.

"What's wrong?"

"I can't figure out what's wrong with me." Izzy said. "My skin hurts. Everything, all over. Especially when I try to wash my hair."

The doctor put a hand on the small of her back and led her to an infirmary bed now that they had reached the infirmary. She hopped up, but wasn't happy about it. Izzy sniffed and started to tear up. She put her hands over her face and tried to keep her shoulders from hitching.

Carson put a finger under her chin with the other. "I think the stress is catching up with you."

Izzy sniffed and looked at him through bloodshot eyes. She shrugged slightly and avoided his gaze.

"Did you get sleep last night? What have you been eating?" He asked, pulling out the thermometer and taking her temperature. He grimaced when he pulled it out of her ear. 101.8.

Izzy shrugged again.

"All right." He said gently. "Here's what we're going to do. I'm going to give you something to help you sleep. While you're sleeping, I'm going to take some blood tests and make sure that nothing else is going on."

Izzy nodded.

Carson glanced around, making sure that no one was around for the conversation that he was about to have with one of the few people that he considered to be family.

"It's okay to be scared, Isabelle." He consoled.

Izzy sniffed and looked at her best friend with wide eyes. "What if… what if he never wakes up?" She verbalized her biggest fear. No, he wasn't dead but some days it felt like he was. And if he never woke up then he might as well be dead.

"You know I'm never going to stop until we figure out how to wake him, right?" Carson asked.

"It's been so long." She countered, wiping her nose with the back of her hand.

"I know." He said. "But I need you to trust me. We'll wake him up."

His blue eyes pleaded with her hazel ones. The way he said it so confidently left little doubt in her mind as to the validity of his promise.

"Now." He said, moving towards the medicine closet. He returned with a small packet of pills in his hand. "Go to your room, take two of these, and sleep. I will check on you in 10 hours, because I get the feeling they're going to knock you out for a while."

Izzy nodded. "Promise me you'll tell me if you hear anything about Dad."

"Promise."

Izzy hopped off the bed and followed his orders. Maybe sleep would do her some good.

* * *

Izzy woke slowly. A slight breeze brushed the hair across her forehead. A warm weight was on her hand and a blanket was pulled up to her chest.

"I didn't think you were ever gonna wake up." A voice said.

She knew that voice. She tried to open her eyes because she wanted to find out who the comforting voice belonged to.

A kiss was pressed against the back of her hand.

"I was starting to get worried."

Izzy's eyes cracked open and blinked to get the blurriness away. She lolled her head to the side.

"Hey kiddo." Markham said, watching with a happy dance on the inside when she seemed to swell a bit at the endearment.

"Hey." Izzy whispered, feeling thoroughly exhausted. "How long did I sleep?"

Jason looked at his watch. "Twenty-seven hours."

Izzy shot up in bed. "You're joking."

"Wish I was. Doc wasn't too concerned given the circumstances but he's been in here to check on you every couple of hours and everything seemed fine. Just waiting for you to wake up." he explained.

"How's my dad?" She asked.

Jason shook his head. "No news."

"Have they made any progress interrogating that alien thing?" She asked.

He shook his head again. "We don't even know if he can speak the same language as us."

Izzy sighed and laid back down on her back, resting the back of her hand on her forehead.

"Get changed, get a shower." Jason said, standing to leave. "I'll see you in the mess in thirty minutes."

Izzy nodded, sniffling loudly.

* * *

Izzy grimaced at the amount of food Jason had waiting for her at the table.

"There's no way I'm going to be able to eat all of this." She stated.

"Too bad. Sit." Jason said, his mouth full of sandwich.

Izzy rubbed her arm absent-mindedly and glanced around the mess. It was the middle of the afternoon so not many people were around to stare wondering if she was going to break right before their eyes.

"Don't worry about them." Jason said, practically reading her mind. "Come on."

She sat down and started eating the soup first, realizing that she was hungry… _really hungry_ … once she started eating. She finished the rest of the food in front of her.

Jason grinned, standing to take their trash and trays.

"You want to go visit your dad?" He asked. She nodded and stood to follow him.

The room they had John in looked much the same. Teyla sat by the bed, Torren asleep in a basinet nearby. Teyla's eyes looked red as if she had recently been crying.

Izzy wrapped her arms around herself and smiled wanly at Jason, who patted her back briefly before turning to leave. Teyla swiped at her eyes quickly and stood to greet the teen.

"How are you feeling?" She asked, wrapping Izzy in a hug.

"A little better." She shrugged. "How's he?"

Teyla turned and looked at John. "The same."

Izzy approached the bed and sat in what had been deemed _her_ chair by anyone that stopped by. She reached out and wrapped her hand around her father's, before resting her head on her arms on the bed and starting to cry.

Teyla stood next to Izzy and rubbed her shoulders.

Izzy looked up at John. His body didn't give her any signs that he could hear her.

"Please wake up." Izzy pleaded. "Please. I need you."

Izzy waited to see if he would respond, and when he didn't just like how he had been for nearly the past month, she kissed his cheek and turned to leave, feeling the overwhelming need to get away.

"Isabelle." Teyla said, trying to stop her.

"I can't." She said. "I just can't be here right now."

Izzy didn't hear anything else that Teyla said. She made her way to her quarters, ignoring the concerned stares and waving off any attempts to talk to anyone. She felt angry that they were in this position. Her father was in a coma, which in her mind meant that he was practically dead.

She made it to her quarters and packed a small bag, grabbing a water bottle, jacket, her cell phone & charger, and a blanket. She had no idea where she was going but she knew that she had to get out of there. Out of Atlantis. Out of anywhere that would remind her of John.

She took her bag and snuck through the halls. There wasn't many people roaming around. It was 3 in the afternoon so most people were working or in meetings.

Getting to the transporter that would take her to shore was easy, but it was hard to ignore the wondering glances of the people she encountered in the Warehouse, mostly Marines in training outside of the city.

She quickly made her way out of the Warehouse and to the nearest bus stop. She didn't look at the sign on the bus that showed where it was going, all she saw is that it was taking her away.

She watched as the scenery passed. After an hour, she got off the bus. She didn't know where she was nor did she care.

Her phone started ringing in her pocket. She pulled out her phone. Carson's ID flashed on her screen.

She stuffed the phone back into her pocket and started walking.

She was in a small town - smaller than San Francisco, anyways - and she took her time looking in the store windows. It was mid-November. Christmas decorations were up and everyone was starting to get into the "Christmas spirit." She missed her home in Pennsylvania where it was cold this time of year. Somehow the 60-something degree weather made the season feel less merry.

She wouldn't be able to get into the Christmas spirit with her current circumstances. School was on hold. She was ahead of the game so she wasn't worried, but she wasn't doing well recently even though they didn't make her come into class due to her current circumstances.

It was like the weight of the world was crushing her. She couldn't see anything past her father. Couldn't see the joy of the small child's face as he stared up at the lit Christmas tree on display in the store window. Couldn't see the response of the child's father as he smiled back down at him. Couldn't see the love between the young married couple as they walked hand-in-hand. Couldn't see the selflessness as someone helped an elderly woman with a cane cross the street.

Couldn't see beauty or joy in anything. She felt hollow on the inside as if there was nothing left in her. But she couldn't bring herself to care about how she felt.

She walked for another hour and her phone rang again. Jason was calling this time. No doubt they had noticed that she was nowhere to be found in the city and were starting to get worried. She didn't care about that either.

The sun was beginning to set and she started looking around for somewhere to sleep. She saw a sign for a motel but realized she didn't have enough money in her pocket to stay the night.

By this point she had fifteen missed calls… three from Carson, seven from Jason, and five from Landon. She didn't care, even though she could plainly see that her friends were concerned about her.

She had several texts as well, mostly questions of where she was and empty threats of getting her ass beaten when they eventually found her.

It was the voicemail that lit a spark in her chest. Made her feel something other than empty and hollow.

 _So help me God Isabelle Nicole Sheppard. I'm gonna kick your ass when I find out where you went._ Jason's voice sounded angry, but she knew that the anger stemmed from fear of where she had gone.

 _Look._ He took a deep sigh. Izzy figured the sigh was to get his emotions under control. _We've looked everywhere for you. Carson's about three seconds away from calling the police and reporting that you're missing. And if he goes into cardiac-arrest out of worry for you who's going to be able to wake up your dad?_

Izzy knew better than to fall into that trap, because she knew that there was no one that could wake him up now. Carson was the most brilliant medical mind in the universe. If he couldn't figure it out then no one could.

 _We're really worried about you, all right? Whatever's going on we can talk it out and get you some real help. Just… come home. Please._

Izzy swallowed thickly. The voicemail was from two hours ago so she figured Carson had called the police by now.

She stuffed her phone back into her pocket and walked toward the sunset. She was at the top of a brilliantly tall hill and could see for miles. She figured she was in a park, after all she hadn't been paying much attention but followed wherever her feet took her.

Izzy sat on the side of a hill and watched the sun set. Once the sun was down she ventured into the trees, finding a little nook between a couple of tightly packed trees. She pulled out her blanket and used her bag as a substitute pillow. Not even the fear of being alone in the dark could strike up any emotion inside of her. She closed her eyes, and drifted to sleep.

* * *

"Do you know what she was wearing?"

Jason rubbed at his forehead in fear, frustration, anxiety… but mostly fear. He should've known that something like this would happen. After all, this is what she did when she was feeling a particularly strong emotion. Run. Granted this was the first time that she had run away-away… other times she would just run to her room.

Jason, Carson, and Teyla were being questioned by the police since those were the only 3 people who had really seen her recently. They met the police at the Warehouse, all changing into civilian clothes.

"Uh." Jason said in thought. "Dark gray hoodie, black soccer pants, Pittsburgh Pirates baseball cap."

"Do you have a picture?" The police officer asked.

Jason pulled out his phone and scrolled through his pictures, stopping when he found the one of him, Landon, and Izzy after they had first arrived in San Francisco. It had been a day out in the city. He went with Izzy, Landon, John, Teyla, and Ronon.

The three of them had their arms around each other with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background, all smiling widely and happy to be out of the City for the day.

The officer texted it to his own phone, and from there distributed to the dispatcher to have it passed to all officers in the state. An Amber Alert was being issued.

The officers thanked them and left, promising to keep them updated if they learned anything.

Jason looked at the other two, all eyes wide with worry.

No words were spoken. No empty promises that everything would be fine were made. If anything, their silence said more than their words ever could.

* * *

Izzy woke the next morning, her first thought wondering where she was. She was confused, but upon further thought she had fallen asleep in the woods in a park somewhere outside of San Francisco.

She checked her phone. The charge was getting dangerously low and she should charge it soon. She had more missed calls, texts, and voicemails, but she ignored all of them. After putting everything back in her bag she made her way back into the small town and stopping at a gas station. She bought a donut, yogurt, bottle of water, toothbrush and toothpaste.

She brushed her teeth, went to the bathroom, and splashed water on her face. She left the bathroom and crossed the street to a Starbucks. She plugged her phone into a spot by the wall and bought a coffee, sipping the drink slowly and watching the people pass by.

It took a couple hours for her phone to charge fully and when it was she left immediately. She wondered how many people were out looking for her and thought she should lay low.

It was all for naught, though. She left Starbucks and there were two cops standing by the street corner talking to each other and drinking coffee from the gas station.

She turned to walk away but they noticed her. She took the Pirates hat off her head and ran her hands through her hair, turning to walk away.

"Is that her?" One of them asked.

Izzy rounded a corner and took off in a sprint down an alley.

"Hey, wait!" One of them called behind her. She turned to look at them and the younger one was gaining on her fast. The other cop was heavier and slower and was not as fast, but he was running as fast as he could anyways.

Izzy turned to look back in front of her but she tripped on a trash bag and put her hands out on front of her to brace her fall. She winced when her hands and knees scraped against the pavement, but even more so that she would definitely be caught now.

"Hey!" The younger one called. Izzy didn't bother getting up to start running again. She would surely be caught.

The younger cop caught up and stopped, pulling her to her feet and keeping a firm hold of her arm.

"Are you Isabelle Sheppard?" He asked.

Izzy looked away sheepishly and glanced back at the cop, nodding slightly.

He sighed, but she couldn't tell if it was in relief or frustration.

"Every cop in the state is looking for you." He stated, his frustration starting to show in his tone.

The older, heavier cop finally caught up. "Is this her?" He asked.

"Yeah." The younger one said.

"Look, I'm sorry you're looking for me but I'm fine. Really." Izzy said, trying to pull out of the officer's grasp but knowing that her arguments would be useless.

"Nice try." The younger one said, practically dragging her by the arm to his patrol car.

"Where are you taking me?" Izzy asked.

The older one opened back door and she tried to backpedal, but the cop merely tightened his grip and gently but firmly pushed her in the car.

"Home." He stated. He climbed into the backseat with her while the older one took the wheel.

"Do you want to tell me why you ran away?" The younger one asked once they started on the road.

Izzy shook her head, staring out the window and trying to maintain her composure. She knew she should be freaking out because she was in the back of a police car with two unhappy officers, but still she felt nothing.

"Look Officer…." Izzy tried to read his name plate but she couldn't see it from where she was sitting.

"It's Barry. Just Barry." He said.

After a few moments of silence Barry spoke. "All right, you don't have to talk to me. But you should talk to someone once you get home. I heard a little bit of what was going on from your friends."

Izzy glanced at him, trying to figure out if he was telling the truth about knowing what was going on.

"I'm really sorry." He said. Izzy only found honestly and sympathy in his eyes.

Izzy started to tear up but she quickly turned her head away from them so that they couldn't see and quickly blinked them back.

Barry tried to get her to talk a few more times but each time was in vain.

Eventually Barry pulled out his phone and dialed someone's number. She could only hear one side of the conversation.

"We have Isabelle Sheppard. She seems OK so we're taking her home. Will do." He flipped the phone shut.

Izzy guessed it was a little more than an hour later that they pulled up in front of the Warehouse. She felt numb up to that point, but seeing how worried Jason looked when they pulled up made her feel guilty. She hesitated, looking at him out the window but her hand paused on the door handle.

Barry seemed to notice her hesitation. "It's going to be OK." He consoled.

Izzy nodded and opened the door, dragging her backpack out behind her.

Jason's eyes were wet with tears and she approached him sheepishly. She had been gone for a whole day, no one knowing where she was or if she was OK. She realized now that she was looking at him just how worried he was.

Jason met her in the middle and wrapped her in a bone-crushing hug. Izzy returned it, but not as hard, and buried her face in Jason's chest. He was shaking slightly from crying, making Izzy feel incredibly guilty for what she had done. Her eyes filled with their own residual wetness.

"I'm sorry." She cried. "I'm so sorry."

Jason pulled away and wiped at the tears of relief that were on his face. He nodded. "I'm just glad you're safe."

Izzy pulled him towards her again, forgetting that Barry and the other cop were still behind her. Jason pulled away after a few seconds.

He stepped forward and shook their hands. "Thank you… for bringing her home." He said.

They nodded. Barry turned to address Izzy. "Hang in there, kiddo. Everything will be all right, you'll see."

Izzy nodded, leaning into Jason's side and gripping a handful of the back of his shirt in her hand.

The officers turned to leave and Jason hugged her close, kissing the top of her head.

He kept an arm around her and led her to his car. Izzy was confused that he wasn't taking her back into the Warehouse so they could head back to the City.

Izzy was too ashamed to speak so she said nothing at all, only followed Jason's lead as he opened the passenger side door so she could climb inside.

He started driving and drove up the mountain. Once they started going she knew where he was taking her.

He parked the car and she got out, following him down the trail that would take them to her favorite spot on the West Coast. They emerged from the trees and the view nearly took her breath away. The Golden Gate Bridge was below them and she was still surprised at how beautiful everything was.

That's when she realized it. She felt something. An emotion other than guilt and emptiness and hopelessness took hold of her and she nearly gasped. It felt like it had been weeks since she felt anything at all, ever since her dad fell into a coma.

Jason sat on a bench and Izzy followed him a little more slowly, sitting on the opposite end because she was nervous about what he was going to say to her.

Jason took one look at her face and he knew that she was afraid of him. Well, maybe not of him but of what he was going to say to her. He wasn't going to scold her necessarily, but they needed to talk about what happened and what was going to happen going forward.

"I'm not going to scold you." Jason said. "While I was worried out of my mind… I understand."

Izzy stared ahead of her, not really acknowledging that he had said anything.

"I need you to talk to me, Iz. I don't know how to help you if I don't know what's going on." Jason pleaded, putting his arm on the back of the bench and turning towards her.

Those had been the words that him and several others had pleaded with her over the past several weeks. Pleading that she would open up and talk to someone but she barely did. She talked some, but no one really knew what was going on. Jason hoped to change that, because what he really didn't want to do was get her professional help. They were getting really close to that point.

He sighed and scooted closer to her, putting an arm around her shoulders and drawing her close. That alone shattered all the barriers she had left. She could practically feel her hardened heart soften as she turned into his touch, burying her face in his shoulder.

"I don't know." Izzy cried. She really didn't. She had no idea what she needed from those closest to her right now.

Jason rubbed his hand up and down her back, not attempting to shush her from releasing the pain she was feeling. He figured that all she needed right now was to be held. Everything in her life seemed to be falling apart. He could try to help hold her together.

Once she had quieted Jason spoke. "Do you remember the first time we came up here just a week after we all were in San Francisco together?"

Izzy relaxed some but kept her arms around Jason and her head on his shoulder. She sniffed and wiped her face on her sleeves.

Izzy didn't say anything but Jason could tell she was listening.

"You were so excited to finally see the Golden Gate Bridge in person because you had always seen pictures and wanted to visit." Jason paused and chuckled at the memory. "You got so pumped you sprinted down the trail and stopped in your tracks. Landon jogged behind you to keep up but got distracted by the view he tripped and fell on that root sticking up over there."

Izzy grinned at the memory. "Landon was so mad that he had to walk around the rest of the day with a giant mud stain on the knee of his jeans."

They laughed together and it fell quiet again.

"I'm sorry I ran away." Izzy said, pulling him closer and shivering slightly against the cool wind.

Jason rubbed her arm. "I forgive you, and I know the others do too. We were scared out of our minds, but now that I see you're OK, I want to make sure that you stay that way."

Izzy nodded.

Jason sighed. "I think we need to try getting you back to routine."

He could feel Izzy stiffen against him.

"I know." He comforted before continuing. "It's been a month. We don't know how much longer it's going to be… hopefully not long. I think we need to try to get you back into school and soccer. You're going to keep staying on Atlantis. I'll take you to school and pick you up as often as I can, but I think getting back into routine will do you some good."

Izzy shook her head. "I'm not giving up on the hope that he'll wake up soon."

"I'm not saying that you're giving up hope. But it isn't doing you any good to be sad and mope around all the time." Jason said.

Izzy rolled her eyes.

"I really don't wanna." She grumbled, pulling away from him and standing.

Jason stood with her and they stood shoulder-to-shoulder. "Please, just try. For me."

Izzy sighed. He was using the "for me" card. He didn't often but when he did she knew he meant business. Stupid emotional blackmail, that's what it was.

"One day." She said.

"A week." he countered. "Try it for a week. If you're still struggling at the end of that week then we can talk."

Izzy glared and thought about it for a few seconds, decidedly unhappy about how this was going. "Fine." She said.

"Atta girl." He praised. The sun had started to set. It would be dark soon.

"We should head back." Jason said. "There are a few people that are anxious to see you."

Izzy felt drained and didn't feel like seeing anyone for a while because she was physically and emotionally spent. But she nodded and followed him back to the car anyways, letting her head rest against the window as the rest of the world passed by.

Even if it didn't feel like it, the sun would still rise tomorrow.


	6. Coming Home

Chapter 6 - Coming Home

A sense of dread came over Izzy as she walked into Atlantis for the first time since she had run away. She stopped in the halls to say hello to the people who gave her a hug or expressed their well-wishes.

It seemed a little excessive, in her opinion. Some of these people she didn't see more than a couple times a week and they were acting like she was gone for days on end, when in actuality it was barely over a full day.

Jason led her to the infirmary. Carson was bent over a microscope examining what Izzy assumed to be a piece of tissue or something from the alien creature that they had captured a couple days prior.

Carson looked up from the microscope briefly when he heard them walk in. Izzy knew immediately that he was pissed, and she mentally braced herself for the lecture that was about to happen.

She braced herself even more so once Jason turned and left without another word.

"Hey." Izzy said cautiously approaching Carson. She leaned her hip against a nearby counter.

"You have fun?" Carson asked, turning his back to her and putting away a few things that he had been working on. He snapped off his gloves and threw them in a nearby trashcan. Izzy winced at the movement. Who knew that someone could take his gloves off in such an angry fashion?

Izzy knew it was a rhetorical question. "Look, Carson - "

"What the bloody hell were you thinking?" Carson spat. "Running away, scaring the crap out of us like that."

Izzy looked at the floor and shrugged. "I just needed to get away."

"So this is where a 'Hey Carson, I need to get away. Can you take me somewhere?" conversation takes place. You don't ever leave the City without telling someone first."

Izzy had never seen him so angry and she didn't know how to react. She flinched as he suddenly ran a hand over his face.

"I didn't know what to do!" Izzy exclaimed. "I just felt the overwhelming need to get away and to be alone."

"And you thought that running out of the City by yourself and to God-knows-where was a good idea?" Carson asked incredulously.

"Seemed like it at the time…" Izzy mumbled.

"And what if something happened out there?" Carson asked.

Izzy ran a weary hand through her hair. After she slept for 20-something hours her skin felt fine and her fever vanished. She guessed her body had just needed the sleep.

She'd never seen this side of Carson before. He sighed angrily.

"Go visit your dad for a little bit and then do your homework. You're going to school in the morning." Carson said.

"I don't want to - "

"No choice. I tried to be understanding and let you stay here so you can be closer to your father but that isn't working. So now you're going to try it my way." Carson stated, almost daring Izzy to challenge him again.

Izzy glared but bit her tongue, turning to walk away. She and Carson just had their first fight. She pushed the bitter feeling down and tried to focus on anything that wasn't her father or Carson.

* * *

Once Jason had pulled away from the parking lot, Izzy decided to take a moment to gather herself before walking into school. It was the first time in a little over a month that she'd been inside school doors, ever since John fell into a coma.

She took another deep breath and walked into school. She had to stop at Principal Sander's office first, and then she could head to class.

She checked in with the secretary and sat down for a few minutes before she could meet with the principal.

The door opened. Izzy wordlessly picked up her bag and took a seat when Principal Sanders gestured to the chair across his desk. She was vaguely aware that he was talking to her but her brain didn't register the words that were being said.

"What?" She asked, shaking her head slightly.

Principal Sanders just looked at her sadly. "I take it your dad isn't doing too well."

Izzy swallowed the lump the size of a cantaloupe and shook her head, blinking furiously so no tears would surface.

Principal Sanders sighed and put his glasses on, looking at the paper in front of him.

"Your assignments are due at the end of next week - "

Izzy reached into her bag and dropped a stack of assignments on the desk in front of him.

"Or, they could be due right now." He said, grinning slightly.

"I got a little ambitious this past weekend."

"I can see that." He raised his eyebrows briefly.

Izzy stared at the clock behind Principal Sander's head.

"Go on and head to class." he said. "You be sure to let me know if you need anything at all. OK?"

Izzy nodded her thanks, picked up her bag and left for class. She ignored the stares in the hallways, no doubt people wondering why she had disappeared for the past 6 weeks.

"Oh my god, Izzy! Where have you been?" She was wrapped in a tight hug by one of her newest school friends, Bridget.

"Out." Izzy said, tensing up at the sudden contact.

Bridget made a weird facial expression and backed up a bit.

"We missed you on the team. Made it all the way to the first round of playoffs only to lose with 2 seconds left." Bridget grimaced.

Izzy cringed. "Sorry, I've been dealing with some… family issues."

Bridget looped arms with Izzy and practically dragged her down the hall.

"Stressed out about family? I know all about that." Bridget rambled.

"Yeah?" Izzy asked.

"Sure do. My parents hate each other. They won't stop fighting. And then my dad will up and leave for a couple days only to come back all apologetic and my mom caves every time. I told her she needs to dump his ass." Bridget said.

Izzy froze. Having parents that constantly fought still sounded better than not having any parents at all.

"How do you deal with it?" Izzy asked, genuinely wanting to know.

Bridget looked around nervously before lowering her voice. "You really want to know?"

Izzy nodded.

"Weed." she stated.

Izzy stopped in her tracks. "We - "

Bridget clamped a hand over her mouth.

"Shut up." She whispered harshly.

They started walking again.

"Honestly it's not a big deal. People think that weed is some super dangerous drug but really it just makes you feel mellow for a little while and then you're back to normal." Bridget stated so confidently Izzy had a hard time not believing her.

"Yeah right." She scoffed, even though a tiny part of her brain was curious to see if Bridget was telling the truth.

"Why would I tell you this if I wasn't serious?" Bridget questioned.

Izzy shrugged.

"Look if you don't believe me just try it for yourself. One joint isn't gonna hurt you and if you don't like it you don't have to try it again." Bridget said. Suddenly a small object was placed in her hand and Bridget had walked away.

Izzy stared at it for a moment before palming it and pushing into her pocket. She was sure that she was flushing deeply.

The rest of the day dragged on. She felt as if everyone could see the joint in her pocket. Her pocket felt like it weighed a hundred pounds.

She found Jason in the parking lot after school as promised and was quiet the whole ride back to the City. She didn't care that he kept shooting her concerned glances. She didn't care that he kept trying to ask questions because she wasn't listening anyways.

She did let him put a hand on her shoulder and guide her to the transporter that would take them back inside the City.

"Homework before sparring, right?" Jason asked, starting to turn down a different hall than Izzy.

"Sure." Izzy said absent-mindedly, her focus still on the joint in her pocket.

Izzy nearly fled to her room. She flung her bag off her back and sat on the edge of her bed.

She turned the joint around in her hand, examining it from every angle. She had never smoked before, let alone do drugs. Just the thought of it made her anxious but she was still feeling strongly tempted.

She stashed the joint in the top drawer of her desk for now, pausing when her eye caught the picture of her & John sitting proudly on the corner of her desk.

What would he think if he could see her now?

Izzy stopped in her tracks, but soon the pull of temptation was back and clouded her judgment. Why should she care what John thought about it? It wasn't like he was awake to scold her.

And who knew if he would even come out of the stupid coma he found himself in.

Izzy took a deep breath and walked away, changing into more comfortable clothes before heading to see John.

Teyla was sitting next to his bed, not much to her surprise at all. Torren was playing with a few toys in his pack-n-play.

Teyla smiled briefly at Izzy when she walked in. Izzy gave a small wave in return.

"Anything?" Izzy asked, even though she already knew the answer.

Teyla shook her head sadly.

"Want me to give you and your father a minute?" Teyla asked, seeing the look on Izzy's face.

Izzy wrung her hands together nervously. Truthfully she felt guilty about the joint that was in the top desk drawer and she fled to John for comfort, even though he wasn't awake to talk her through it.

"Sure." Izzy said. Teyla ran a tender hand over Izzy's hair, picked up Torren, and left.

Izzy glanced at the balcony above the room. No one was watching them. Izzy kicked off her shoes and laid on the bed next to John, placing his heart underneath her ear.

His heartbeat was strong and steady like it normally was, only this time he wasn't merely sleeping. She prayed that Carson would figure out something soon. She knew that Major Lorne was working around the clock interrogating the alien that they had captured as well, but as of the day before yesterday no one had been able to get it to talk.

Izzy sighed, her guilt at a minimum for now.

* * *

After finishing her homework and eating dinner, she sat at the desk in her room, rotating the joint between her fingers.

She made up her mind. Tonight she would try it after she was sure that everyone else was asleep.

Izzy laid on top of her bed and watched as the sun got lower in the sky. Eventually it got dark. She got up from her bed and went into John's room, digging in his nightstand drawer for a match. She found the box and went back into her room.

After a few seconds of contemplation she lit the match and held the match up to the joint. She took it on her balcony so that the room wouldn't smell.

The first time she inhaled she coughed, but the taste was not as bad as she expected it to be. After a few puffs her head started to swim and she felt all her anxiety leave, just like Bridget said that it would.

She got to the end and flicked the joint into the ocean. She started giggling at what she had just done, surprisingly not upset with herself. She didn't know if that was from her calloused conscience or the drugs she had just smoked.

She went back into her room. Suddenly everything was funny, but she knew that it was just the weed messing with her head. She laid in her bed for maybe thirty minutes. It didn't take too long to come down from the high and she felt almost back to herself.

She was disappointed when the anxiety and the nerves returned as well.

She froze when the chime rang in her room. It was late, almost 1am. Who would possibly be coming to check on her?

She contemplated ignoring it. But then the chime rang again and someone nearly pounded on her door.

"What?" She yelled through the door.

"Izzy open up." Jason's voice flowed through the door.

Izzy's heart was pounding in her ears. She checked her breath. It reeked of weed. She fled to her room and rummaged around in her purse for a stick of gum.

She prayed it wasn't too obvious.

She slid her hand over the panel and was met with Jason, who was grinning hugely.

"Why didn't you answer your radio?" He asked.

"I was..." Izzy gestured vaguely to her room.

Jason paused and looked closer. "What's wrong?"

Izzy looked away.

"Why are you so flushed, do you have a fever?" Jason stepped a little closer and stepped back in surprise, smelling the weed on her almost immediately.

"You're high." He stated.

"It was just once." Izzy defended.

"Are you out of your damn mind?" He yelled. His face turned nearly as red as hers but his was out of anger. "First you sneak out and then you do this. What the hell is wrong with you?"

Izzy's chin wobbled at his anger and she stepped back in surprise.

Jason took a deep breath and waved a hand, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I'm going to let your father deal with this one." He said, turning to walk away.

Izzy furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"...What?" Izzy asked.

Jason stopped and turned around. "Your dad is awake. He's asking for you." Jason said, grinning. She could still see the disappointment and anger in his eyes.

"Are you serious?!" Izzy shrieked, suddenly happy even though she knew she was going to be toast when her dad found about about all that had happened.

Jason merely smiled.

Izzy ran to her room and grabbed a hoodie and slid into her favorite sperrys.

She paused before running out of the room. "Please don't tell him." She begged. "I'll never do anything that stupid again. Just please… don't tell him."

Jason sighed. "I won't say anything. But so help me God if you do anything like that ever again, I'll beat your butt so hard you won't be able to walk straight or sit down. Just… change your clothes and splash water over your face first."

Izzy swallowed thickly. She ran back to her room, disappeared into the bathroom and reappeared with fresh clothes.

"Better?" She asked. Jason nodded, stepping aside so that Izzy could leave. She jogged down the halls and followed her memory to the observation room.

The door slid open. Doctor Beckett was checking John's vitals and a nurse was propping him up with another pillow.

Izzy started crying immediately. John was sitting up and he turned at the sound of her cry. She approached the bed and nearly crawled up on his lap.

"Hey, hey it's OK." John consoled, opening his arms.

She relished in the feeling of being held by him, rather than just sitting next to a limp body like she had been for the past six weeks.

"I can't believe you're awake." Izzy whispered, reaching out and touching his face briefly just in case he wasn't real.

John looked at her closely. She looked different. He looked between her and Carson. Izzy knew what question was coming just based on his pause.

"How long was I out?" He asked cautiously.

Izzy glanced at Carson. He nodded in encouragement.

Tears ran down her face again. Her chin wobbled and she avoided his gaze. "Six weeks."

John froze. He felt like he had only been out for a day or so, two tops.

John looked at Carson. "Are you serious?" He asked in disbelief.

Izzy moved towards him again and clung to him tightly as if she was afraid he was going to disappear or fall into a coma again. John wrapped his arms around her tightly, suddenly understanding why her emotions were so strong.

Izzy sniffed and took a deep breath. John scooted over to give her more room, though they were still together.

Carson nodded at the nurse, silently telling her to give them a few minutes.

"How did you wake him up?" Izzy asked.

Carson quirked his eyebrows. "A little help from Major Lorne. The Wraith have the ability to bring back life, so it got me thinking that these creatures - whatever they are - may be able to wake people up after they fall unconscious. Turns out they have a device on their arm that does just that. We discovered it emits a kind of burst that will wake anyone within the vicinity of the device."

"What's even the purpose of having a weapon that knocks you out until the button on that device is pushed and then wakes you up?" Izzy asked.

Carson shrugged. "I'm sure something. We haven't learned enough about these creatures to know what their ultimate goal is. One day we'll find out, I'm sure."

John pulled Izzy even closer and kissed her hair.

"What happened while I was out?" John asked. He directed his attention to Izzy.

This was going to be a long conversation, Carson knew. So he grabbed a chair and sat next to the bed.

Carson nodded towards Izzy, encouraging her to be the one to tell him.

Izzy cleared her throat and wiped at her face. "Well, I didn't go to school. Principal Sanders was really cool about it and arranged for my assignments to be sent. Carson sent me back this week though after I…" Izzy paused, glancing at John to try to read his emotions.

Carson reached over and shut of the heart monitor, getting the sense that it would be going through the roof soon.

"...I ran away." She said. John tensed immediately.

"You did what?" John asked incredulously.

"It's handled." Carson interjected, making eye contact with Izzy and then John. "She's grounded until further notice."

John nodded in approval.

Izzy chin wobbled, remember what she had just done a couple hours ago. The guilt was nearly crushing her.

"I did something else too." She cried, turning and burying her face in the nape of John's neck.

Carson furrowed his brow in confusion, John's arm wrapped around her back more securely in concern.

"I got high." She said between tears. John tensed even further but kept holding her. He knew Izzy. He knew this wasn't "normal" behavior for her. He assumed that she was acting out because he had been in a coma. Or... at least that's what he hoped.

"When did this happen?" Carson asked in disbelief. "On what?"

"Couple hours ago. Someone at school gave me a joint." Izzy said, rubbing at her face.

John sighed and rubbed at his head with his free hand, a headache forming at the front of his head. What was he going to do with this girl?

"Ok." John said softly. Izzy's gripped his shirt in her hand. "We can talk about those things later."

John's head spun. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Izzy sneaking out, smoking weed, not going to school. He needed time to process this before he reacted.

"Carson could you give us a few minutes?" John asked. Izzy wiped at more tears.

The Doctor left the Sheppards in the silence, only the slight hum of the lights and machines working in the background.

Once the door closed John pulled Izzy closer, pressing a kiss into her hair.

"I'm sorry, baby." John whispered. "I'm so sorry."

Izzy shook her head. There was a spot on John's shirt that was wet with her tears but he didn't care.

"I didn't mean anything I did." Izzy explained. "I just… I don't know. I missed you so much. I felt so angry."

"I'm sure it brought up some unpleasant memories." John validated.

Izzy nodded. "I kept listing out all the what-ifs. What if you never woke up. What if you died like Mom did. What if I was going to be an orphan. What if I kept falling and hit rock-bottom. And then who would take care of me? I didn't want to go live with your brother."

John couldn't help it, he smirked a bit at her last statement, but quickly recovered at all the fear and uncertainty his child faced during the time he was in a coma.

"Who took care of you?" He asked.

Izzy wiped her nose with the back of her hand.

"Carson, Jason, and Teyla mostly." Izzy said. "They did fine, but…"

John looked down at her at her pause.

"But what?" He asked.

"They weren't you." She said. John pressed a kiss to her hair.

"Could you hear me… while you were asleep?" She asked, tipping her head back to look at him.

John glanced down at her. "No." He said. "Everything was black and silent."

Izzy sighed and laid her head back down. "That's too bad. You missed out on my whining."

John let out a chuckle.

He paused.

"Did you come to see me a lot?" He asked.

Izzy nodded against his shoulder. "Every day." She said. "Almost."

John grinned, but his heart felt like it shattered at the same time. He missed six weeks that he could have spent with Izzy. And he could have prevented everything that she went through.

"You know you're going to be grounded for a really long time, right?" John asked.

Izzy sighed. "Yeah."

"And so help me God if you ever do something as stupid as you have done in the past 6 weeks…"

Izzy tensed. "Jason already said he'd kick my butt so hard I wouldn't be able to walk straight or sit."

John smirked. "I'd add a kick myself."

Izzy chuckled. "I promise I won't."

There was a long but comfortable pause, both relishing in the silence and each other's company. Izzy was relieved that he was awake. John was worried that his daughter was going off the deep end and he didn't know how to stop it. His gut was telling him that she was acting out because of him and that her behavior would end now that he was awake and would be involved in her life again.

"It's late." John said quietly. "You should go to bed."

"I wanna stay here." Izzy replied just as softly.

Her eyes started to droop shut. John fumbled for the controls and leaned the bed back so they weren't sitting straight up. Izzy knew that she was lucky that John woke up in the middle of the night, otherwise people would be coming and going from the room. They would find out in the morning when they woke up, meaning Izzy wouldn't be able to get much attention from John for a little bit while everyone came to say hello.

"I'm glad you're awake." Izzy whispered as sleep finally claimed her. John pulled her closer and closed his eyes, praying that they would _both_ be OK in the end. He was glad he was awake, too.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey guys! Remember me? Remember this story? Yeah... it still exists. You're welcome.**

 **Please leave a review. It'd make my day :) Love you all!**

 **Mega thanks to my Natalie (username: izzysheppard) for all the pestering and encouragement. You're the best.**


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